30 August 2022
By Tom Collins
tom@TheCork.ie
Danish multinational power company ‘Ørsted’ has completed the acquisition of the Ballinrea solar PV project in County Cork from experienced renewable energy developer Terra Solar. The 65 MW solar project will become Ørsted’s first solar project in the country. Ballinrea Solar Farm, located North of Carrigaline, is expected to generate enough green energy to power up to 16,000 Irish homes – equivalent to almost every new home to be built in Cork City between now and 2028.
Kieran White, Vice President of Europe Onshore in Ørsted, says: “The transaction marks a significant milestone as it’s the first Irish solar project acquisition for the company. This project will make a meaningful contribution to Ireland’s national energy target of 80 % renewable electricity by 2030 and to the Irish government’s new 5.5 GW solar target. We’re delighted to work with Terra Solar to accelerate our solar journey in Ireland.”
Ballinrea Solar Farm will contribute to Ørsted Onshore’s ambition to grow its global portfolio to a ~50:50 wind and solar PV capacity mix towards 2030. With the company’s recent acquisition of Ostwind, Ørsted entered the French and German solar markets, adding to its ambitions to develop a substantial portfolio of solar projects in Spain together with four local partners, announced in June this year.
Globally, Ørsted has approx. 5 GW of capacity in operation and under construction across onshore wind, solar, and storage, 1.3 GW of which is solar. The company is on track to reach a total of 17.5 GW onshore capacity globally by 2030.
